


Lastness

by Orichalxos



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Bad Ending, Multi, Rocks Fall Everyone Dies, Threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-13
Updated: 2010-01-13
Packaged: 2017-10-06 06:15:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orichalxos/pseuds/Orichalxos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From the kinkmeme prompt: "The world is falling into Shadow. Since the team has Personas, they will not turn into Shadows, and with no end in sight nor any way to replenish their strength after hours of constant casting, death is imminent and they all go home to at least get what little rest they can before fighting to their deaths the next day." Three scenes of the end of all things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lastness

I. Hope (Love)

"Once we get past the Shadows, we can meet up with Souji at Junes, right? I'll bet that's the best place to find him. Maybe there's some kind of portal we can reach through the TV that will stop it, or some way to block the fog's release…" Chie continues planning aloud as she rummages through the medicine cabinets for supplies. "Bandages, sedatives, stimulants…got to be something in here in case of poison, too…"

Yukiko sits on the floor next to the bathroom, staring down the length of the corridor. The tendrils of fog that seep into the Amagi Inn move faintly, though there is no wind. She is exhausted, and Chie's voice is only a buzz in her ears.

Even if Chie can't hear the fear in her own voice, Yukiko can. There is something familiar about this feeling; she wants to get out, away, she wants Souji, or Chie, or anyone really, to be the one who solves everything and rescues her. But there isn't an "outside" anymore, and she's going to have to be the one who rescues herself.

She knows there isn't much more strength left inside her, not for fighting or healing. Amaterasu's light is fractured and dissipated by the fog.

They'd been lucky to make it this far to the relative safety of the Inn, but Yukiko had noticed how the road had seemed longer and steeper than ever before. She'd been prepared to dismiss it as exhaustion until the very end, when she'd looked back and seen how very, very far away the rest of Inaba was.

They're not going to make it to Junes. Yukiko doesn't know if they'll make it past the first Shadow they encounter. She puts her head down on her knees and draws in a long, quavering breath.

"Hey." Chie leans down and puts a hand on her shoulder. "I'm…glad you're here, okay? It's…it's gonna be a long walk, a really long one. Are you ready?"

In Chie's eyes Yukiko sees reflected the knowledge that they not going to make it to Junes. Chie knows how hopeless this is, and she's going anyway. She stands up and puts her arms around Chie in a tight hug, until the shuddering in her chest subsides.

Chie hefts the pack onto her shoulders and looks out the window. Outside, the world has twisted even more in the fog. Dark trees that might have been streetlamps cast gnarled shadows, and only the faintest marks of a path show where the road might have been. It is as if a new dungeon has grown up around them.

"Remember when we used to play fairy tales out here?" Chie asks.

"Hansel and Gretel in the dark wood, right?" Yukiko gives a hiccupping laugh that turns into a sob. "Did you bring your bread crumbs?" She reaches out for Chie's hand and grips it tightly. "I think…Now I'm ready."

The two girls take a deep breath and set off onto the Shadow-filled road, holding hands, never letting go.

 

II. Despair (Love)

Kanji remembers Yosuke ragging him about having girls in his room. He finds it kind of funny now, especially given how much he'd once thought about having either Rise or Naoto here…or, okay, he had thought about having both of them here too. So there's something funny-sad about how all three of them are lying on his futon together now.

The small room above Tatsumi Textiles is probably the only safe place on the whole street. They can hear the noises the Shadows make as they emerge and attack, tearing apart or transforming everything they touch. Sometimes he thinks he knows the voices outside.

None of that matters now, right? He'd been too late to save the only person he might be willing to abandon his teammates for; he'd only narrowly escaped the thing that had attacked his mother, a groaning weight of grief that struck her down like a ton of bricks. She's gone, and he couldn't save her. All he could do was try and get the other two somewhere safe.

Dunno where Senpai or the others are at, he thinks. Rise had come running out of the tofu shop followed by screams…probably the same kind of thing that had happened here, don't think about it, don't think about it. Naoto had stumbled out of the fog with blood all over her face. They'd stumbled here and staggered upstairs together, and collapsed onto the futon.

Rise is the first to say something. She lifts her head from Kanji's shoulder and squeezes her eyes shut. The terrible noises from outside get stronger as she whispers: "I can hear them. I can hear all of them…and I can't do anything to stop it."

Naoto looks up and reaches out to cup Rise's cheek. She caresses Rise's face as she stares deep into Kanji's eyes with a haunted look. "It's my fault." When Kanji starts shaking his head furiously to deny it, she says, louder, "I should have been smarter. Somehow." She buries her face against his chest and jerks with the effort of restraining her tears.

Kanji wraps his arms around both of them, trying to say with his body the feelings he can never put into words. I'm sorry. I'm here. I love you. I'm here. Even if it's all over, I'm here.

The first kiss happens as Rise, still keeping her eyes shut, leans toward Naoto and brushes her forehead with her lips. "It's not your fault," she whispers, and repeats herself as she opens her eyes and kisses Kanji on the cheek. The silence in the room changes subtly, and the next kiss she gives Kanji is full on the lips--and the next one to Naoto is the same. Kanji takes a deep breath and thinks, why not? It's not like anything worse can happen, and hesitantly kisses Naoto.

The three begin trading kisses, gently at first, then with more and more intensity, as hands begin to wander and terror turns to desire. They taste of desperation, and the salt from tears and blood. The small safe room will be overwhelmed soon with the fog and the Shadows, but until then Kanji, Rise, and Naoto tear some last fragments of joy out of the end of everything.

 

III. Emptiness (Love)

Yosuke's the only one to make it to Junes when the Shadows take over. He's still sure there's something they can do--some last chance to be a hero!--even in the face of Inaba's disintegration. When he rounds the corner, though, he sees why he's run into so few Shadows.

Souji stands next to him, desperately calling forth Persona one after the other. A vast group of Shadows stands at the edge of the light--dozens, maybe even hundreds crowded into the showroom. They're held back by Souji's Personas.

Every Persona Souji had ever summoned stands in the crowd around him. But every one of them is twisted slightly. Pixie's grin shows fangs. Yellow sparks glow deep in Matador's eyes. The ones on the outside edge, closest to the Shadows, seem translucent and wavery, as if they're dissolving.

Yosuke hurries through the throng of Personas to stand next to Souji. "Busting out the whole army, huh?" he says lightly, though he's terrified. "We can take 'em, right?"

Souji looks at him and for the first time, Yosuke sees real fear on his face. "It's not working." At the edges of the crowd of Personas, the Shadows are pushing closer. The Personas are more and more ghostly as the Shadows push inward. "I can't make it real anymore."

"What? What do you mean, you can't make it real?"

"I can be anybody," Souji murmurs, "but I can't be everybody." And Yosuke understands. This is something like Souji's Shadow, as the Personas that strengthened him fall away like shed skins or dried leaves. The boy who could be anything to anyone is terrified of being nothing in the end.

What was it he used to say when comforting someone who'd faced their shadow? It's not your fault? It's part of you? What do I say now, wondered Yosuke?

The Shadows are getting closer, and the Personas are disappearing like popped soap bubbles, but Yosuke puts away his kunai and turns to face Souji instead. He reaches out, putting a hand on each shoulder. "Being so good at being what others need is part of who you are. I never worried about it. You're real to me, and that's all I need."

Souji blinks at Yosuke, then embraces him and leans his head on his shoulder. A thousand responses go through Yosuke's head, like dude, I'm not gay, or god that feels so good or why the hell didn't you do this before everything went to shit?, but the only one that sticks is just to embrace Souji right back.

I'm not supposed to be the cool, calm one, thought Yosuke. I'm supposed to be the adviser and friend and comic one-liner guy, maybe possibly something more if we'd had a chance. But if what Souji needs right now is the calm one?

If that's what he needs from me, then sure. "It's okay, partner," Yosuke says as the ring of Shadows closes in. "It's all okay."

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the Bad Bad Bathhouse kinkmeme. Thank you to anon for requesting it, and anons for commenting on it!


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